Lynda Finn: "Bingos Schmingos"

1st Lynda Finn easily Finn-ished off her four opponents, ending up with a 4-0 +237 record despite playing only three bingos.  For a player who averages a bingo and a half per game, a drought of this magnitude is very unusual. She got two of those bingos out of the way earlier when she defeated Charles Reinke 429-387, playing ENDITES and CORNIER against Charles' TAGLINES and OVERMANS.  The third bingo, MESHING, went uncountered as Lynda beat Helen Flores 380-309.

2nd Charles Reinke used his first-round defeat at the hands of Lynda Finn as the needed fuel to power a dominating performance the rest of the way, finishing 4-1 +742.  His smallest win in the span was a "mere" 462-316 victory over Shayla Dunn.  New father Renato Umali was not spared Charles' wrath; when the dust cleared, a final score of 569-350 told the whole sad story.  Renato played BANDEAU, but the tile gods otherwise smiled fully upon Charles, allowing him to play GASELIER (alt. spelling of GASOLIER, a chandelier with gas burners), AUDITING, STILLED, and ANARCHY (prompting the comment, "anarchy is always fun."  Indeed).

3rd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 +235, putting together a solid three-game run before running up against Lynda Finn in the deciding game.  The Bryaniac started off with a bang, defeating top expert Thomas Reinke with authority, 412-334.  Thomas was held bingoless as Bryan played three such words: SNARLER, SLINGER, and UNTINGED.  He also notched his fifth-highest game ever when he crushed Chris Vergeront 528-341.  Again, his opponent didn't manage to bingo as he used up the good tiles with plays such as EROTIZE (v. to give a sexual meaning to), WANIEST, MANDOLIN, and BLUNDER.

Dave Gilligan: Bingos Schmingos part 2

1st Dave Gilligan saw Lynda's small bingo total, said "I can do better", and ended up with only two bingos to go with his 2-1 +37 record.  He pulled out a close one, 332-316, against Sue Goldstein, with his bingo of CREDITS making the difference.  Dave took down Barb Besadny 360-308 for his other win.

Shayla Dunn got word of the week with her 167-point triple-triple of BLOWGUNS, which she used to tranquilize Thomas Reinke, 567-416.  She also played BARMAIDS, RETOOLS, and a 72-point non-bingo JERKINS in a primal display of dominance.  However, that 567 score was not the highest of the night: Andy Bohnsack scored a whopping 572 against Susan Vergeront, one of seven 500+ games played by club members on the evening.